Alumni News Hinchey 78 Receives Honors from Texas Society of Pathologists, TMA In January, Dr. William W. Hinchey 78 received the George T. Caldwell Award from the Texas Society of Pathologists at the society's 90th annual meeting in San Antonio. The award was established in 1954 to recognize distinguished service and teaching excellence among pathologists. It is the organization s most prestigious award and represents the highest ideals in service to medicine, community, and humanity as exemplified by the late pathologist, Dr. George T. Caldwell (1882 1947). In May, the Young Physician Section of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) presented Hinchey with its Young at Heart Award during TexMed 2011, TMA s annual conference. The section chose Hinchey to receive the award for his commitment to organized medicine and his willingness and openness to bringing young physicians up the association s ranks. Throughout his medical career, Hinchey has been actively involved with professional medical organizations in Texas. Early on, he was an active member of the Bexar County Medical Society, the Texas Society of Pathologists (TSP), and the TMA. He was appointed to the TMA s Council on Socioeconomics, Patient- Physician Advocacy Committee and serves as Chairman of the Bexar County Delegation. In 2007, he became the 142 nd President of the TMA and a recipient of the C. Frank Weber Award.
Palmer 73 Joins Health Science Center Faculty Dr. Patrick M. Palmer 73 joined the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the U.T. Health Science Center in July following 27 years of private practice in San Antonio. Since graduating from the School of Medicine 38 years ago, Palmer has been actively engaged in the Alumni Association. He served as President from 1989 to 1992, and has been serving on the Board of Directors since 2007. In addition to distinguishing himself as a private practitioner and alumnus, Palmer served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Medical Corps, from 1969 to 2008, retiring as a Colonel. In 1989, he was named the U.S. Air Force Medical Individual Mobilization Augmentee of the Year. During Operation Desert Storm, he was called to Active Duty and was stationed at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio. A Fellow in both the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons, Palmer has also been active in a number of professional medical associations. He has served on the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Board of Councilors since 2009. In addition, he is currently Second Vice-President of the Texas Orthopaedic Association and will serve as President for 2013-2014. McKelvey 93 Becomes OMA President In May, Dr. Carla McKelvey 93 became the 137 th president of the Oregon Medical Association (OMA). McKelvey started her medical studies in 1989 at the U.T. Health Science Center at San Antonio where she also completed her residency in pediatrics. She moved to Oregon in 1996, and has been in private practice at North Bend Medical Center in Coos Bay ever since.
McKelvey became a member of the OMA Executive Committee in 2007 and Vice Speaker of the House of Delegates. The following year she became Speaker of the House and was elected Vice President in 2009 and President-Elect in 2010. She has been physician editor of the OMA publication, Medicine in Oregon, since its launch in 2008. Teuscher 84 Elected Chair of Academy Board of Councilors Dr. David Teuscher 84 of Beaumont, Texas, was announced as Chair of the Board of Councilors (BOC) of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) at its 2011 Annual Meeting in San Diego. BOC members represent orthopaedists in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Military, Puerto Rico, Canada, and four of the regional orthopaedic societies. Physicians are rightfully uncertain of how the changes in healthcare will affect their patients and their practices, Teuscher said. We must educate our fellowship, the public, and elected leaders on the proper manner to truly reform our healthcare system. This should be done in a positive way that delivers value in the form of improved quality, better outcomes, and costeffective care for patients. Teuscher practices orthopaedic surgery in a full-time private practice and specializes in sports medicine at the Beaumont Bone and Joint Institute (BBJI) in southeast Texas. He is also active in several professional societies, serving as a Fellow of the AAOS, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AFAS) and as a member and Past- President of Texas Orthopaedic Association (TOA). In addition, he is team physician for Lamar University NCAA intercollegiate athletics.
Perez 98 Founds RGV Mentors Last year, Dr. Nolan Perez 98 founded RGV Mentors, an organization that matches successful community professionals in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) with aspiring high school students to ensure that the students graduate from high school and are focused on completing college and starting a professional career. The mentors follow an established curriculum to help students obtain the tools required to succeed in post-secondary education, identify career goals, and ultimately build the lives they desire to have. Perez attributes much of his success to the mentorship he received from Dr. Mario Ramirez, a legendary family physician from Roma, Texas, who formerly served on the Board of Regents for the University of Texas System. Through the RGV Mentors program, Perez is paying forward the impact of the mentoring relationship he was blessed with years ago to help lead young RGV students toward higher education to help them realize their illuminated futures. After growing up in the Rio Grande Valley and graduating from Port Isabel High School in 1989, Perez received his bachelor s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993 and his M.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1998. He then served as a Medical Corps Officer in the U.S. Navy, where he received the Navy Commendation and Navy Achievement Medals. He went on to complete his internal medicine residency at the Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) in Harlingen along with a gastroenterology fellowship at Wayne State University in Detroit. In addition to founding RGV Mentors, Perez is a Trustee for the South Texas Medical Foundation and serves on the Chancellor s Council for the University of Texas System, the Senate Advisory Committee for the Creation of UTHSC South Texas, and the Development Boards for the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at Brownsville-TSC. For his service, he was awarded the RAHC Community Service Leadership Award in 2010. He currently runs his own private practice in gastroenterology in Harlingen.
Pronio-Stelluto 90 Receives Mentoring Award Valerie Pronio-Stelluto, M.D., F.A.C.P. '90 recently received the 2010-2011 A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award presented by the Office of Diversity and Community Partnership at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Dr. Pronio-Stelluto is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Medical (Left to right) Dr. Elizabeth Kwo (presenter of mentoring award), Dr. Jeffrey Flier (Dean of Harvard Medical School), and Dr. Valerie Pronio-Stelluto 90. Student Education at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the recipient of several HMS and MIT teaching and mentoring awards, including the 2010 Arnold P. Gold Foundation Leonard Tow "Humanism in Medicine" Award and the 2009 Herbert S. Waxman Award for Outstanding Medical Student Educator Award presented by the American College of Physicians. She has been an active member of the School of Medicine Alumni Board since 2006 and currently serves as President.